服务台
fú​wù​tái

service desk

服 fú, fu clothes

Original meaning: submit, serve

Combination of 凡 (plate) and subdue (𠬝). Based on the original meaning "serve" or "submit". 凡 alludes to serving a plate.

Components

凡
凡 Meaning component
fán all

Depicts a plate.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 凡 than it was in ancient scripts.
𠬝
𠬝 SoundMeaning component
fú subdue

Depicts a kneeling person being subdued.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

菔

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartbjuwk[b]ək quiver (n.)
bjuwk[b]ək garment; wear (v.)
bjuwk[b]ək subdue, submit
bjuwX[b]əʔ box of a carriage

說文解字

《說文》：“服，用也。一曰車右騑，所以舟旋。从舟，聲。，古文服，从人。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

务 wu, wù business Simplified

Simplified form of 務. Phonosemantic compound. 矛 represents the sound, while 攵 and 力 both represent the meaning. The traditional component 矛 was removed for simplification.

Components

務
矛 Deleted component
máo spear
攵
攵 Meaning component
pū tap

攵 is a component form of 攴.

力
力 Meaning component
lì, li power

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

雾

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

台 tái platform

Originally 台 and 㠯 were pronounced the same and thus written the same. Later 口 was added to distinguish the characters.

Components

口
口 Distinguishing component
kǒu, kou mouth
㠯
㠯 SoundRemnant component
yǐ by means of

㠯 is an ancient variant of 以.

Change in sound
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 㠯 than it was in ancient scripts.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (5 of 24 verified)

治始抬胎怡怠苔殆贻诒迨笞饴跆邰炱眙骀鲐绐詒颱貽飴

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartyilə I, me

說文解字

《說文》：“台，說也。从口，聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

務 wu, wù business Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 矛 represents the sound, while 攵 and 力 both represent the meaning.

Components

矛
矛 Sound component
máo spear
Change in sound
攵
攵 Meaning component
pū tap

攵 is a component form of 攴.

力
力 Meaning component
lì, li power

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

霧

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartmjuHm(r)o-s exert oneself

說文解字

趣也。从力敄聲。

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)